Kingsburgh visited the Prince before he got out of bed and asked how he had rested all night. 'Never better,' replied he, [fol. 214.] 'for I have rested exceedingly well, having slept, I believe, nine or ten hours without interruption.' Then it was that the conversation happened about Lord George Murray and the landing of the French, etc.96
When the Prince had got himself dress'd in the Highland cloaths at the side of the wood, he embraced Kingsburgh in his arms and bad him a long and a happy adieu, most affectionately thanking him for all his services, and assuring him he would never forget them. Then the Prince wept, and some drops of blood fell from his nose. Kingsburgh could not refrain from weeping too, and when he saw the blood, expressed his concern, dreading the Prince not to be in health with the fatigues, fastings, etc., he was obliged to undergo. The Prince assured him he was in very good health, and that this was no extraordinary thing with him at all. 'This,' said he, 'is only the effect of parting with a dear friend, and ordinarily it happens to me in such a case. Alas! Kingsburgh, I am afraid I shall not meet with another MacDonald in my difficulties.'97 When Kingsburgh returned to his own house he told his lady that after the Prince had got on the Highland dress and the claymore in his hand he was a soger-like man indeed.
4 July
[fol. 215.] I heard Mrs. MacDonald of Kingsburgh say that she had the following particular from Malcolm MacLeod's own mouth before he was made prisoner. Malcolm went with the Prince and MacKinnon to the shore to see them fairly boated for the continent. When he was about to take leave of the Prince he spied some ships coming in sight and hovering about the coast. He intreated the Prince not to go on board for some time, but to wait till he should see how these ships steer'd their course; 'For just now,' said he, 'the wind blows so as to fetch them this way and to hinder your passing to the continent.' The Prince replied, 'Never fear, MacLeod, I'll go on board directly. The wind will change immediately and make these ships steer a contrary course. Providence will take care of me, and it will not be in the power of these ships to look near me at this time.' Malcolm MacLeod declared that the Prince's words made him astonished and determin'd him to sit down upon the shore to see what would happen. He said the Prince and his small retinue had not rowed many yards from the shore till the wind changed to a point directly opposite to what it had been, and [fol. 216.] blowing pretty briskly made the ships steer so as to be soon out of sight. Mr. MacLeod affirm'd that in all the course of his life he had never known any man that had such a firm trust and well-grounded confidence as the Prince was remarkably endued with.
Captain John Ferguson searched Sir Alexander MacDonald's house for the Prince, and in quest of him he came to Kingsburgh, where he examined Kingsburgh and his lady and their daughter, Miss Nanie MacDonald, alias Mrs. MacAllaster, for she is married. Kingsburgh told his lady that Captain Ferguson was come to examine her about some lodgers she had lately in her house, and desired her to be distinct in her answers. Mrs. MacDonald looking Ferguson broad in the face said, 'If Captain Ferguson is to be my judge, then God have mercy upon my soul.' Ferguson asked for what reason she spoke such words. 'Why, Sir,' said she, 'the world belies you if you be not a very cruel, hard-hearted man; and indeed I do not like to come through your hands.' Ferguson had nothing else to say for himself but the common saying, viz., That people should not believe all that the world says.
20 July
[fol. 217.] When Ferguson asked Kingsburgh where Miss MacDonald and the person along with her in woman's cloaths lay all night in his house, he answered, 'I know in what room Miss MacDonald herself lay, but where servants are laid when in my house, I know nothing of that matter, I never enquire anything about it. My wife is the properest person to inform you about that.' Then he had the impertinence to ask Mrs. MacDonald, Whether or not she had laid the young Pretender and Miss MacDonald in one bed? To which she answered, 'Sir, whom you mean by the young Pretender I shall not pretend to guess; but I can assure you it is not the fashion in the Isle of Sky to lay the mistress and the maid in the same bed together.' Then Ferguson desired to see the different rooms where their late lodgers had slept; and after seeing them he said, it was pretty remarkable that the room in which the maid had slept seem'd to look better than the one where the mistress had been laid; and this behoved to confirm him in the beief that it was the young Pretender in women's cloaths who had been along with Miss MacDonald. Kingsburgh's daughter said it could not be the person he meant in women's [fol. 218.] cloaths, for that she had heard that person ask something (a bottle of water) from Miss MacDonald in Erse. 'This,' says Ferguson, 'confirms me more and more in my opinion, for I have often heard that a fellow went to Rome some years agoe on purpose to teach the young Pretender the Erse language.' This, by the bye, is a gross mistake in Ferguson; for the Prince could not speak a word of Erse till he arriv'd in Scotland, and he knew but very little of it till he was forced to commence wanderer for the preservation of his life, and then he learned to speak it pretty well, which prov'd of very great use to him.
When Kingsburgh and Miss MacDonald were made prisoners and brought before General Campbell (which happened at different times) both of them honestly own'd the parts they had acted, and, if I rightly remember, declarations were written from their own mouths and they subscribed them.
N.B.– Miss Flora MacDonald called her disguised handmaid Bettie Bourk, or Burk, an Irish name, and made the dress of a piece with the proposed character, being a hood with a long mantle almost down to the heel.98
Robert Forbes. A.M.
Mr. Cameron of Glenevis 99 gave the following Narrative to several persons in Edinburgh after his liberation out of the Castle of Edinburgh, which happened some time in the beginning of July 1747. He said —
August 1646
[fol. 219.] Lord George Sackville with a command of 400 men was ordered from Fort Augustus to gather up the gleanings of the cattle that might happen to be left in the countries that had been plundered and pillaged. When he was at Locharkaig the Prince and his small retinue had been thirty or forty hours without any meat. One evening they spied Lord George and his command driving away the cattle they had pick'd up here and there. They were then consulting with one another what was fittest to be done to procure themselves some provisions in this extremity, and it was proposed that they should go to a place at the distance of sixteen miles from them. The Prince objected against this measure alleging that the journey was too long for them in their present distressed condition, and that perhaps they might be disappointed of their intention when they should come to the place spoken of. 'What would ye think, gentlemen,' said he, 'of lifting some of the cattle we [fol. 220.] spied under a command this evening? They are not far from us, and I hope we will succeed in the design, for the gloom of the night will favour us in the attempt.' His companions looked upon the enterprize as too hazardous, and could not think at all of running such a risque. But the Prince still insisted upon it as the best expedient they could pitch upon in the present difficulty, and said, 'If the dangers attending this expedition be all that can be said against it, I myself will be one of the number that will made the attempt.' Upon this four of the company declared they would gladly go along with him and try what they could do. Away they went, and (as the Prince had suggested) by the favour of the dark night they brought off six cows without being in the least discovered – a most lucky and plentiful supply in such necessitous circumstances.
July
N.B.– Though Glenevis had never join'd the Prince, but had lived peaceably at home, and though no overt act could be proved against him, yet his conduct could not screen him from cruel treatment. All his effects were plundered and pillaged, his houses burnt down to the ground, and he himself suffered imprisonment for eleven or twelve months, and was [fol. 221.] not released till by a petition presented before the lords of justiciary he pled the benefit of the indemnity.
N.B.– Among the several remarkable and lesser circumstances of Kingsburgh's history I have forgot to mention some which are well worth remarking, and are as follows: —
When Kingsburgh came to Fort Augustus he was immediately ordered into the provo's guard, where the common fellows took the buckles out of his shoes, the garters from his legs, and his watch and money out of his pockets, a ceremony, it seems, preparatory to one's being taken out to be hang'd; at least Kingsburgh looked upon it as such. 'For,' said he, 'I expected every moment to be ordered out to end my life on a gibbet, and I laid my account with it.' After staying there for some hours he was then ordered to be thrown into a dungeon with heavy irons upon him, which he looked upon as a change to the better by reason of the insults, the opprobrious and blasphemous language, he behoved to endure from the common fellows.
When Kingsburgh was removed from Fort Augustus he was brought to Edinburgh under a guard of Kingston's Light horse, who entered the city with sound of trumpet and beat of kettle-drums, a circumstance very much noticed by everybody as a [fol. 222.] form of procession quite unusual for the bringing a prisoner into a metropolis. The command halted a considerable time upon the street of Edinburgh till further orders should be got, when the mob came flocking about them, and some of them said, 'What can be the matter with this honest-like, well-looking man that he is brought here a prisoner? Show your face, honest man, to the world, for, faith, you may be seen as well as the best of them all.' Then Kingsburgh was put into the same room of the Castle with Major MacDonell, George Moir, the Laird of Leckie, Mr. Thomas Ogilvie, etc., where he thought himself very happy indeed; but that happiness did not last long.
One day when I was visiting him and his fellow-prisoners, one of them happened to be complaining of the hardships of their situation, saying, 'Is not this a dull and uncomfortable state to be pacing up and down this room, waiting the freak and humour of an officer to let us out when he thinks fit to walk for an hour or so within the narrow bounds of the Half-moon?' Kingsburgh gently check'd him for his complaining, and said, 'Do not complain, Sir, for there are many situations far worse than ours. Had you been only in my condition at Fort Augustus you would have experienc'd a very great odds. [fol. 223.] When I was taken out of the provo's guard and put into the dungeon with irons upon me, I thought myself happy; but when I was removed to a room and the irons taken off me, though I was not allowed to step over the threshold, I thought myself in a kind of paradise. And now that I am here and in exceeding good company (a happiness I had not before) I think myself still more and more in a paradise. I am really content. I am quite satisfied with my condition, if they will only allow me to stay with this good company. And what do you think, Sir, of the liberty of walking upon the Half-moon, tho' it were but for an hour or two at a time? I do assure you this is no small happiness in a state of confinement. What would I have given for such a liberty at Fort Augustus?' Kingsburgh was not allowed to make a long abode with his agreeable companions, for he was soon removed to a room by himself under a strict and close confinement, not having the liberty to step over the threshold of his door, and no person being allowed to come near him but the officer upon guard, the serjeant, and the keeper that was appointed to attend him as a servant.
When his lady came to Edinburgh she was not allowed access [fol. 224.] to him, but only to stand upon the parade and see her husband looking down to her through the grate of a window, the officers and sogers witnessing their enquiring about ane another's welfare. At last Kingsburgh fell so ill in his health that a physician and surgeon behoved to have access to him, but always in presence of an officer. Then his lady after many and earnest solicitations obtained the privilege of being with him throughout the day, but was obliged to leave him upon the approach of the evening. When he was recovering he was allowed to step out, only once or twice a week, with an officer attending him, to take a walk in the garden or any other by-place of the Castle, not being indulged the pleasure of seeing the other prisoners or of walking on the same spot with them; till some short time before his releasement that he was permitted now and then to be on the Half-moon with them. All the reason that ever could be discovered for this severity and strictness upon Kingsburgh was this. When he was in the same room with Major MacDonell, Leckie, etc., many persons came to pay their respects to him, and to hear his story, which he very plainly and honestly gave, at the same time never [fol. 225.] failing to give an exact account of the Prince's adventures and chearful conduct in the course of his wanderings, as far as he had got any intelligence about them. This reaching the ears of those in power it proved not a little disgusting to them to hear such things as served to form a great and glorious character of the Prince, and therefore Kingsburgh behoved to suffer for narrating some stubborn, ill-manner'd truths, and to feel the effects of being a plain, honest man. Truth, tho' never so glaring, when it runs cross to the partial notions and inclinations of poor frail mortals, grates very hard and becomes a very uneasy and painful thing.
One day a gentleman happening to visit the lady prisoners upon the same stair where Kingsburgh endured his strict and close confinement, and spying Kingsburgh's room door to be open, he made a stop. Upon this the sentry, knowing the gentleman, whispered to him that as the keeper was employed in bringing some things to Kingsburgh the door would be open for some short time, and that he would allow him to step in and ask Kingsburgh about his welfare, provided that he would not sit down, but come [fol. 226.] as quickly as possible. Accordingly the gentleman went in and embracing Kingsburgh regreted this change in his condition. Kingsburgh smiled, and said, 'The Government little knows what pleasure this treatment gives me; for they are doing me much honour without designing it. They are at much pains to make me a considerable person. Little did I ever think that I was a man of such consequence that a whole Government should be so much taken up about me. If I am so lucky as to keep my health, this change shall give me no uneasiness.' Then he desired the gentleman to inform his companions in the other room that he was in very good health, and that he kept up his heart in his solitary state, and to forbid them to be any way uneasy about his solitary condition.
29 June
When the Prince was in Kingsburgh's house talking about the difficulties and dangers attending his situation, and consulting with him what might be the best and fittest expedient for the safety of his person, he suggested going to the Laird of MacLeod's house as by far the properest place that could be pitched upon, because it was not liable to any suspicion or jealousy [fol. 227.] upon the part of the Government, and therefore would not be searched for him. If he could only get there without discovery, he said, he thought he would be in absolute safety. Kingsburgh told him that he would not take upon him positively to oppose any measure the Prince was pleased to condescend upon for the preservation of his own person; but then, if his opinion could be of any use in the present case, he behoved to declare that he should never have his advice or approbation for going to the Laird of MacLeod's house at any rate.100 The Prince in a surprize clapped his hand to his breast and said, 'What! Kingsburgh! Do you think that MacLeod to his other doings would add that of thirsting after my blood? Do you really think he would go the length of giving me up into the hands of my enemies?' Kingsburgh would not pretend to assign particular reasons for its not being advisable that the Prince should go to MacLeod's house; but still he assured him, it should never be with his consent. The Prince insisted no more upon this project, and dropt it altogether. This I had from Kingsburgh's own mouth, and his narrating of it consists with the knowledge of several others, particularly his fellow-prisoners.
Robert Forbes, A.M.
Leith, Friday's Evening, 6 o'clock, August 7th, 1747, in the house of James MacDonald, joiner, who and Stewart Carmichael of Bonnyhaugh, were present, Captain Malcolm Macleod, 101 second cousin to Malcolm Macleod (Laird of Raaza), gave the following Account or Journal. 102
1747 20 July
30 June 1746.
[fol. 228.] By appointment the said Captain Malcolm MacLeod and Murdoch MacLeod, Raaza's third son, met the Prince at Pourttree, a publick house in the isle of Sky, upon Monday's night, June 30th, 1746. After taking leave of Kingsburgh at the side of a wood, the Prince103 had set out directly for this place, where Miss Flora MacDonald (taking a different road) met him once more and bad farewel to him. Captain Malcolm MacLeod said he would not positively affirm whether it was Monday's night or Tuesday's morning when they met; 'But,' said he, 'it was dark.' Raaza's third son had been in the Prince's service, and had received a musket-shot through his shoulder at the battle of Culloden.104
1 July
Before these two gentlemen had set out from the island of Raaza in order to meet the Prince at Pourttree, the young [fol. 229.] Laird of Raaza, John MacLeod, came to the Captain and told him what a great anxiety he had to see that young man, the Prince. Malcolm MacLeod begged him to consider well what he was doing, that as he had not been out, he ought to run no risque for satisfying his desire, which at present could be of no real use or service, and therefore he suggested to him to act in this affair with the utmost prudence and caution. Meantime Malcolm could not help owning frankly that he himself heartily wished that his friend might see the Prince, provided he could do it with safety. But then he would leave it altogether to himself to determine on which side he should think fit to chuse. After thinking a while, young Raaza positively declared he was resolved to see the Prince if it should cost him the estate and the head, and accordingly accompanied his brother and the Captain to Pourttree105 in a small boat that would contain only six or seven men with difficulty. Upon meeting with the Prince they spent very little time at Pourttree, but attended him soon to the same small boat; and the Captain did not introduce young Raaza to the Prince till they were in the boat.106 Early in the morning, July 1st, they arrived at Glam, in Raaza, where they remained two days in a mean, low hut; and young Raaza was the person that brought provisions to them, viz., a lamb and a kid in the nook of his plaid.
At that time there happened to be in Raaza a fellow who had come into the island upon pretence of selling a roll of tobacco; [fol. 230.] but after he had sold off his tobacco he continued strolling up and down the island in an idle way without anything to do, for no less than twelve or fourteen days, which made the people of the island suspect him to be a spy. When the Prince and his friends were in the hut, Malcolm MacLeod happened to see this stroller coming towards the hut, which he took notice of to the Prince, and told him withal what kind of a fellow he was suspected to be. The Prince not liking the thing so well, Malcolm said he should take care that the fellow should not go back again, for that he would immediately go out and shoot him through the head. 'O, no,' said the Prince, 'God forbid that any poor man should suffer for us, if we can but keep ourselves anyway safe.' And he would not allow the Captain to stir, though their apprehensions behov'd to be the greater that the hut was not upon any road. But the fellow happened to pass by it without looking into it.
The Prince began to be anxious to be out of Raaza, alleging the island to be too narrow and confin'd in its bounds for his purpose, and proposed setting out for Troternish in Sky. But his companions told him that they thought him in safety where he was, and did not like that he should change his place so soon. The Prince pressed so much for going to the place he had mentioned, pretending he had a tryst there with a [fol. 231.] gentleman,107 which he would not break for any thing, that his friends yielded to his importunity.
2 July
July 2d. About 7 o'clock at night he went on board the above mentioned small boat, attended by the young Laird of Raaza (who could not think of parting from him soon) and his brother Murdoch, Captain MacLeod and the two boatmen, John MacKenzie and Donald MacFrier, who had been both out in his service, the one a sergeant and the other a private man. They had not well left the shore till the wind blew a hard gale, and the sea became so very rough and tempestuous that all on board begged he would return; for the waves were beating over and over them, the men tugging hard at the oars, and Captain MacLeod laving the water out of the little boat. The Prince would by no means hear of returning, and to divert the men from thinking on the danger he sung them a merry Highland song. About nine or ten o'clock the same night they landed at a place in Sky called Nicolson's Rock, near Scorobreck, in Troternish. In rowing along they found the coast very bad and dangerous, and when they came to the Rock the Prince was the third man that jump'd out among the water and cried out, 'Take care of the boat, and hawl her up to dry ground,' which was immediately done, he himself assisting as much as any one of them.108 The Prince had upon him a large big coat, which was become very heavy and [fol. 232.] cumbersome by the waves beating so much upon it, for it was wet through and through. Captain MacLeod proposed taking the big coat to carry it, for the rock was steep and of a very uneasy ascent. But the Prince would not part with the coat, wet as it was, alleging he was as able to carry it as the Captain was.109 They went forwards to a cow-byre on the rock, about two miles from Scorobreck, a gentleman's house. In this byre the Prince took up his quarters, the whole company still attending him. Here they took some little refreshment of bread and cheese they had along with them, the cakes being mouldered down into very small crumbs.
3 July
Captain MacLeod intreated the Prince to put on a dry shirt and to take some sleep; but he continued sitting in his wet cloaths, and did not then incline to sleep. However, at last he began to nap a little, and would frequently start in his sleep, look briskly up, and stare boldly in the face of every one of them as if he had been to fight them. Upon his waking he would sometimes cry out, 'O Poor England! O Poor England!' The Prince desired the Captain to take some rest, but he did not chuse to sleep at that time. However, when the Prince began to importune him, the Captain thought perhaps the [fol. 233.] Prince wants a private opportunity to say something to Raaza's son, and therefore he stept aside a little. The two brothers110 and the boatmen parted from the Prince at the byre. He promised to meet the youngest brother again at Camistinawagg, another place in the same island.111
The Prince said he expected Donald MacDonald alias Donald Roy to come to him; but he not coming, the Prince asked Captain MacLeod if he was a stout walker? and if he could walk bare-footed? The Captain replied he was pretty good at walking, and that he could travell bare-footed very well. The Prince told him by bare-footed he meant, if he could walk in his shoes without stockings, 'for,' said he, 'that is the way I used to walk at my diversions in Italy.' The Captain said he could not really tell if he could do that or not, for that he had never tried it.
About six or seven o'clock at night the Prince, taking the little baggage in his hand, stept out of the byre, and desired the Captain to follow him. The Captain came up to him and said, 'Give me that,' taking hold of the little baggage, which he gave him, and then the Captain followed him without speaking one word till they were out of sight of the cow-byre, when the Prince happening to turn such a way as the Captain [fol. 234.] did not think so safe, he made up to him and said: 'Your royal highness will pardon me to ask where you are going, for that I dread you may chance to fall into the hands of some party or another, if you do not take exceeding good care, as there are many small parties dispersed up and down the country.' The Prince then said: 'Why, MacLeod, I now throw myself entirely into your hands, and leave you to do with me what you please. Only I want to go to Strath, MacKinnon's country. I hope you will accompany me, an you think you can lead me safe enough into Strath.' The Captain declared he would go with him where he pleased, and said he could undertake to bring him into MacKinnon's country safe enough, provided he would go by sea, which he might easily do, for that he really did not think it so safe for him to go by land by reason of the several parties that were searching the country. The Prince said he would go by land, for that there was no doing anything in their situation without running risques, and proposed directing their course immediately for the place intended, alleging that he himself knew the way very well. 'I am sure,' says the Captain, 'I must know it much [fol. 235.] better, and I must tell you that we have a long journey to make, no less than 24 or 30 long miles. For I dare not lead you the direct road, but take you byways, and go here and there cross the country to keep as free as we can of the parties scattered up and down.' Then the Captain hinted that he thought it not so convenient to set out when night was coming on lest they should fall into dangers and inconveniences for want of knowing well where they were. But the Prince insisted upon setting out immediately; and accordingly away they went along the ridges of high hills, and through wild muirs and glens. All the time from first to last of this adventure the Captain was exceedingly afraid of what might happen, lest bad things should be imputed to him, in case of any harm befalling the Prince.
4 July
The Prince proposed to pass for the Captain's servant, the better to conceal him, which was agreed to, and that he should be named Lewie Caw,112 there being of that name a young surgeon lad (who had been in the Prince's service) skulking at that time in Sky, where he had some relations. The Captain advised the Prince, since he had proposed being his servant, to walk at some distance behind him; and if at any time he [fol. 236.] happened to meet with any persons and to converse with them, as he was well known in the island, that the Prince should show no concern at all in his face, but sit down at a small distance, when he should happen to talk with any folks. The Prince assured him that no appearance of concern should be seen about him, and that he should be careful to observe the proper distance of a servant, and to do the duty of one by carrying the baggage, which very often he would not part with to the Captain when he desired it of him, and even pressed to have it.
The conversation happening to turn upon Lord George Murray, the Prince said that Lord George Murray (whether out of ignorance, or with a view to betray him he would not say) did not behave well at all with respect to obeying of orders; and that particularly for two or three days before the battle of Culloden Lord George did scarce any one thing he desired him to do.113
When the Captain was informing the Prince about the many cruelties and barbarities committed after Culloden battle, the Prince was amazed, and said, 'Surely that man who calls himself the Duke, and pretends to be so great a general, cannot be guilty of such cruelties, I cannot believe them.'
The Captain, happening to see the Prince uneasy and fidging, took him to the back of a know, and opening his breast, saw [fol. 237.] him troubled with lice for want of clean linen, and by reason of the coarse odd way he behoved to live in, both as to sustenance and sleep. He said, he believed, he took fourscore off him.114 This serves to show that he was reduced to the very lowest ebb of misery and distress, and is a certain indication of that greatness of soul which could rise above all misfortunes, and bear up with a chearfulness, not to be equalled in history, under all the scenes of woe that could happen. He used to say that the fatigues and distresses he underwent signified nothing at all, because he was only a single person; but when he reflected upon the many brave fellows who suffered in his cause, that, he behoved to own, did strike him to the heart, and did sink very deep with him.
The Prince, even when warm and sweating, used to drink a great deal of water in his wandering from place to place, and the Captain was always sure to desire him to take a dram above the water to qualifie it. The Captain intreated him not to drink water when he was sweating lest he should thereby injure his health. 'No, no,' said the Prince, 'that will never hurt me in the least. If you happen to drink any cold thing when you are warm, only remember, MacLeod, to piss after drinking, and it will do you no harm at all. This advice I had from a friend abroad.' The Captain said the Prince was always sure to observe this direction.